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Detroit Free Press Staff Writer

None of the candidates or potential contenders to be Detroit's next mayor was sitting at year's end on huge piles of cash, despite what promises to be an expensive and bruising race, campaign finance records show.

In fact, Mayor Dave Bing and former Detroit Medical Center CEO Mike Duggan -- the only two possible candidates who filed reports detailing what they raised last year -- had on hand slightly less than $12,000 combined as of Dec. 31, the records show.

Bing raised $124,590 last year and had an additional $14,000 from earlier reports but spent all but $7,000, primarily on campaign consultants. Some of his largest donors last year were among the biggest downtown movers and shakers: The Quicken Loans PAC ($3,000), Roger Penske ($1,500), the UAW Michigan PAC ($10,000) and the DTE Energy PAC ($3,000).

Duggan raised $79,854 between Sept. 20 and Dec. 31, with most spent on consultants, campaign staff and related expenses, the records show. Among Duggan's biggest individual donors were DMC associates Conrad Mallet Jr. and David Katz ($3,400 each), along with quite a few physicians.

Bing has not said whether he'll run again, although invitations have been sent out for a campaign fund-raiser on Feb. 27. Mayoral spokesman Bob Warfield declined to comment Friday.

Duggan told the Free Press that his campaign's major fund-raising -- with a goal of hauling in $150,000 a week -- just started last month. "But we had a number of people who came forward early and wanted to donate, and we appreciate that," Duggan said.

So far, "this is strictly an exploratory endeavor, out listening to residents," Dickens said.

Former Detroit Corporation Counsel Krystal Crittendon kicked off her campaign Thursday and announced her intent to run only in mid-January, after Dec. 31 reporting requirements.

Former state Rep. Lisa Howze, who declared her intent to run nearly a year ago, missed Friday's filing deadline, but said her campaign workers would be filing statements "shortly." She said her backers so far are friends, confidantes and supporters not as well-heeled as major corporate donors.

"You'll see my supporters from $5 donations to those who've given $250 or more," she said.

State Rep. Fred Durhal Jr., a Detroit Democrat who also hadn't reported as of Friday, couldn't be reached for comment.